Viacom's MTV (VIAB) Spending $500 Million on Games

Convinced that interactive games are one key to remaining relevant, MTV is investing more than half a billion dollars in the sector, Reuters' Ken Li reports. Big media has long drooled at the thought of cashing in on video
games--and failed over and over again (Millions of unsold E.T. the
game cartridges still litter a New Mexico landfill). This said, MTV's casual games are rocking: 42 million uniques visited an MTV game site in June, up 20% since January. Alas, traffic does not yet equal money: MTV is still experimenting with
various business models (Neopets sells virtual pet accessories, for
example). "Games are critical," says MTV Global Digital Media president Mika Salmi (from Atom)